Peaceful
by Love2KatieCassidy
Summary: The first night sleeping away from one's baby always seems to be more traumatic for the parents than the tot... A Shannon/Riley fluff one shot.


**Peaceful**

 **This is a Shannon/Riley one shot. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Shannon, how many times are you going to check on him?" Riley asked as Shannon lifted the covers on her side of the bed and burrowed in beside him. She pressed her feet - her very _ice cold_ feet - against his in an attempt to get warm. She felt him shiver in response.

She looked over at him, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness. He was just a shadow next to her. Her hand found his arm and she squeezed his bicep. "I can't help it. It's his first night away from us in the nursery… I'm a little concerned about him being cold or lonely or-"

"He's going to be fine," Riley said as she moved to drop her head against his chest, listening to the rhythmic _thump-thump_ of his heartbeat beneath her ear. "All the baby books say -"

"He should have been in the nursery all along. I know, I know. But he's still just an infant, Ri. Only six months old. What if he's scared?"

"There's a night light," Riley said. His hands found the waves in her long, tousled hair and knotted at the ends. "Besides, Simon's tough. He's got this in the bag. I think you're more worried about him sleeping away from us than he is."

"Yeah, maybe," Shannon grumbled. Her whole body itched to go into the next room and check on their son again but she tried to resist the urge to run. She had been in there five times tonight already.

"He's safe; he's secure. I promise," Riley said. "I wouldn't let anything happen to him. Or to you, for that matter."

"I know, I know." Shannon snuggled against his side. "But this is my first rodeo. It's my prerogative to worry a bit."

"Of course it is, but you need sleep. He needs sleep. Everytime you go in there, he stirs, I bet."

Shannon shrugged. "Point taken. I will just crank up the baby monitor and go to sleep." She rolled over, fumbling in the dark for the handheld on the bedside table. She cranked the button as far to the right as it could go. She heard a tiny gurgle and soft snoring and she grinned.

"He's snoring," Riley said.

"Takes after his daddy," Shannon retorted.

"Hey now. I don't snore."

"I beg to differ," Shannon said. "You always sound like a pug dog in deep distress."

"Oh nice," Riley said with a little chuckle. He kissed her forehead. "So… sleep?"

"Sleep," Shannon agreed. She closed her eyes and willed herself to go to dreamland.

XoXoXo

At some point, Shannon drifted off to sleep to the comforting, dueling, sounds of her longtime boyfriend and her infant son snoring. She slept like the dead and only roused when she became aware of movement beside her.

She slowly popped her eyes open and though a yawn pressed at her lips, she forced it down. She watched Riley silently slipping towards the bedroom door. _Tiptoeing._ Yes, he was tiptoeing so as not to wake her up.

She smirked and rolled over to flick on the bedside lamp. _"_ _Caughtcha!"_ She exclaimed.

Riley jumped in surprise and looked over at her, a sheepish expression on his face. "Well…"

"You're going to check on Simon," Shannon accused. "Don't even try to deny it."

"Well…" He said again.

"Well, nothing. You gave me the business about being paranoid about Si and yet … There you are creeping out of here like a bandit in the night."

Riley nodded. "Okay, yes, I wanted to check on him. I can't help it. I liked having him right beside us in his bassinet."

"What about all those baby books that say he should be sleeping in his crib in his own room?" Shannon half-taunted.

"Well those baby books … They suck," Riley said with a shrug, splaying his hands. "I miss him."

"Me too," Shannon said. "I don't think it would hurt if he -"

"Stayed with us one more night?"

"Yes," Shannon said. She kicked back the covers and swung her legs over the side of the mattress. "Let's go get him."

"What if we wake him up though?" Riley asked. "He might not go back to sleep."

Shannon shrugged. She stood and grabbed Riley's warm hand in hers. They slipped the short distance down the hall and poked their heads into the nursery. Simon was slumbering peacefully, sucking on his thumb in his sleep.

"He's so cute," Shannon whispered.

"How did we make such a cute kid?" Riley whispered back teasingly.

"Have you seen me lately?" Shannon boasted. "I'm hot."

"Yes, yes, you are," Riley said. He slipped his arm around her waist. "In fact, you're gorgeous beyond words."

"Thanks. You're not half bad yourself," she said. "Anyway…" She looked in the nursery again. "He looks so peaceful there. I almost hate to -"

"Disturb him?"

"Yeah…"

"Me too."

"He looks like he's doing fine," Shannon admitted sadly. "He's growing up too fast, Riley. Soon he'll be in high school, and then college, and getting married and making us grandparents. With gray hair. Oh god…"

"Slow down. He's going to be little for awhile longer, okay? And he's still going to need us. He will _always_ need us."

"I hope so," Shannon said. "I kind of like being needed, as crazy as that sounds."

"I'm always going to need you too," RIley said, hugging her tightly to him. "That will never change. I'll always need and want you in my life. I wouldn't be the same without you."

"Ditto," Shannon said, giving him a slow kiss on the lips. "We are such saps, you know."

He smirked. "I know. It's absolutely criminal."

"There are probably some benefits to Simon sleeping in the nursery…"

"I can think of a few," Riley said, waggling his eyebrows.

Shannon swallowed down a laugh and nodded in agreement. She looked back at her son. "Think he'll be okay without us tonight after all?"

"Yeah, but if not, we'll be there for him. We'll be there for him the way our own parents couldn't be for us." Riley looked a little sad at that admission and Shannon's heart tugged in her chest.

She reached out and cupped his stubbly cheeks in her tiny hands. "You're right. We will be there for him... You're a good father, Riley. A good man, period."

"You're a good mother, Shannon, and a good person yourself. I mean that."

"I know you think so. You were the first person to ever believe in me. I don't take that for granted." She moved her hands down his body to grab for his hands. "Let's let Simon sleep after all. He needs the rest and right now… I need _you."_ She gave him a steamy kiss and she felt him smile into her lips.

In response, he picked her up, slinging her over his shoulder, and carried her back down the hall. She tried to muffle her laughter with her hand but it didn't work so well.

He deposited her on the bed and reached for the hem of her tee-shirt. "Not wasting any time, are you?" She asked breathlessly.

"Nope. I'm never going to waste a moment with you," he said. It was a promise, a vow really, tumbling from his plump lips.

She just wrapped her arms around him and held him close.

THE END.


End file.
